Meyer happy with Springbok balance

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer has named three uncapped forwards in his starting XV to face England with a fourth on the bench.

The Springboks will be led by Meyer for the first time on Saturday in the first Test against England and have only had five days to prepare for the game. However, the coach has not been afraid to throw debutants in to the mix with a new lock pairing of Juandre Kruger and Eben Etzebeth given a start, along with flanker Marcell Coetzee. Prop Coenie Oosthuizen could be a fourth new cap from the bench for the Springboks, who will be captained by Jean de Villiers for the three-Test series. Meyer said: "Eben, Juandre, Marcell and Coenie have all put their hands up this season and I know they can succeed at Test level. "It is quite a new thing in South African rugby to have two uncapped locks starting. It is a huge step up but I am confident in them. "Although the team is quite young, we still have some experience across the starting 15. "The balance in the team is right in the way we want to play against England and we're looking forward to the first Test." There is still plenty of experience in the side with a total of 458 Test caps, while there are nine players who featured in the World Cup quarter-final defeat to Australia. South Africa team: Z Kirchener; JP Pietersen, J de Villiers (capt), F Steyn, B Habana; M Steyn, F Hougaard; T Mtawarira, B du Plessis, J du Plessis; E Etzebeth, J Kruger, M Coetzee, W Alberts, P Spies. Replacements: A Strauss, C Oosthuizen, F van der Merwe, K Daniel, R Pienaar, P Lambie, W Olivier.